


Taken Roads

by GenuineSoftBoy



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Descriptions of fighting and violence, It will eventually become Guardian/Drifter but not for a good bit, lots of insinuating things with foresaken, lots of trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:48:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24911089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenuineSoftBoy/pseuds/GenuineSoftBoy
Summary: A collection of stories starting from Destiny 1 to Foresaken in Destiny 2 that dive into the story of Soxkt, his clan mates, and what eventually lead him to his dangerous choice of falling into the Drifter's Gambit.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. The Fool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new Light wakes up with more questions than answers

Somewhere, far, far away, a Hive prince fell for the final time at the gun of a Guardian who would go on to do a number of greater things. And in that same moment, a life woke up for the first time in a very, very long time.

“Guardian, wake up, quickly.”

The Awoken’s eyes rolled in his head and he forced his stinging lids to open at the desperate voice. His body ached. His ears were ringing. All of his senses were fluctuating from dullness to hyper sensitivity. But worst of all was, as he looked up at the hanging metal ball above his head, he opened his mouth to speak and the rancid blood flooded his throat. He coughed and gagged loudly, the vibrations of his mouth causing a burning pain that tore through him. He wrapped his arms around himself as he heaved and he was lucky the Ghost’s voice was somehow not causing his pounding skull to ache more.

“I know, I know, I’m so sorry, I healed you as much as I could but if we stay here any longer, we are both done for. I will finish, I promise, but for now you need to get up and follow me.”

The Awoken stared at the blood that just left his throat, thick and cold on the sand, soaking through slowly. His stomach turned.

“Please, I don’t want to lose you already. My Light right now, it can’t...”

Despite the throbbing in every joint, he was able to pull himself from the half-undug mass of sand and silt he was under, freeing his legs with his rapidly replenishing energy. He rose shakily, wavering where he stood, blinking in the darkness around him. Small pinpricks of light off in the flat distance moved slowly much like the stars overhead. The very gentle sounds of engines were their own though. He turned to look at the metal floating ball, eyes wide and scared, but it was already zipping away from him through the air.

“This way, there’s some shelter over here we can hide in until I fix you up entirely.”

The Awoken man followed diligently, careful to ignore the pain in his mouth. When coughing, he felt the muscle fibers not quite connected and it terrified him in a way he couldn’t even touch. He just followed the Ghost off the shores and through a flat wasteland. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been walking for but he wasn’t growing tired, even when the Ghost gently urged him to hurry. 

Eventually, they reached an abandoned, barely standing hut, hardly shelter with the gaping holes in the roof. He was surprised he did not collapse immediately once he stepped inside. In fact, he didn’t even feel tired anymore. He moved his hand from where it had been holding a bleeding cut together during the run. The bleeding had stopped. The blood caked on his hand was already drying into rust red flakes.

This metal ball, his Ghost was scanning the inside of the hut and turned to look at the Awoken still staring at his hand. “Oh good! I was worried if I didn’t fix you all at once, you’d be missing some…things. Abilities. That’s kind of a hard sentence to process. You should take a seat. Possibly on the cleanest bit of floor?”  
The Awoken man nodded and obeyed, seating himself gingerly, again preparing for a pain that didn’t actually come. He opened his mouth to talk again but he quickly shut it. Some things did still hurt. The Ghost seemed to hum sympathetically.

“I’m sorry, I’ll get to fix that. You don’t need to talk out loud for me to hear you though. I know you wouldn’t have been able to guess that but we are…bonded now. We share a mental link.”

Two gold eyes stared at the hanging ball in the shadows. “…Nothing hurts like it should.” The Ghost’s shell fluttered and he knew he was heard.

“No, Guardian, it does not. Because you are a little bit special now. I’ll explain if you just let me begin to patch you up.”

The Ghost was diligent in fixing every injury that the Awoken still had on his body, most of them not even leaving scars or requiring much work once the Light touched him. As it toiled, it spoke both clinically and positively, like a doctor who worked with children. He told him where they were right now. What it was. Some things about something called The Light and The Traveler that he somehow already knew about, at least a little. The Awoken man listened quietly as the Ghost filled the silence until it too fell silent as he opened his mouth for the final wound to be put to rest. It took the longest time and he knew his Ghost was trying to stitch things back together as cleanly as possible as some sort of penance for it’s previous hastiness.

Eventually, it zipped back, shining his bright light into his Guardian’s mouth before dimming the light with a melancholy hum.

“There. I’m…really sorry if there are any scars left now. Leaving those wounds open for as long as I did was not my plan but I didn’t really have a choice. I didn’t even want to wake you up until I was done. My Light just wouldn’t...no. No excuses. I’m sorry and that’s the end of it.”

The Awoken looked down at his mostly bare body, touching the litany of scars across it under the glow of his Ghost’s light. There were so many, all over his torso, his forearms. He looked up quizzically.

“Oh! Those you already had. Really. I promise.”

The Awoken nodded slowly and then ran his hand over the recently healed wounds with a soft touch. They did not feel even bruised or sore as his fingers ran over the scar tissue. Finally, despite the dust and sweat on them, he stuck a finger in his mouth and touched the raised line that symbolized the rejoining of his tongue. He could still taste the copper in his throat from earlier.

“Yeah that one was…rough. But you should still be able to talk without any speech issues moving forward. And all your nerves and stuff are good and intact.”

The Awoken pulled the fingers from his mouth and then breathed in slowly before glancing up at the Ghost, face tensing as he thought with pointed effort. “You can…hear me like this though, right?”

“Yes, I can. Why? Does it still hurt to talk?”  
“No, I’m okay.”

With a grunt, he repositioned himself, sitting with his back gingerly against the rotting wood of the shack. He pulled his knees up to his chest and stared awhile at the Ghost hovering above him.

“…What caused these injuries?”

The Ghost shell spun a little. “What… made them? I can’t really say for sure, I didn’t really give myself time to analyze them in depth, I just mostly started throwing as much Light at you as I could before those Pike rovers found us.”

The Awoken looked back down at the lines on his chest. “They all seem…similar. Right?”

“For the most part. If I’m being honest, judging only by the numbers and how varied in fading they are, it was probably combat or fighting of some kind that gave you most of these. Cutting and slashing wounds from over years at least.”

“…Fighting, hm?” The back of the new Guardian's head hit the wood with a gentle thud. “…And my tongue.”

“…Yeah.” His Ghost seemed to droop slightly.

“You spent a while looking at that just now.”

“I did.”

“So. I have to know.”

“Guardian I-…I’m sorry.”

“You can stop apologizing so much. Just tell me everything. Please.”

“It was…cut. Purposefully. Almost split right down the middle. The flesh, it was completely ripped apart where the cut was. Probably…probably a serrated blade had made the cut. And judging by the damage it did to your nerves and the signs of struggle, it was while you were…alive.”

The Awoken listened, rolling his tongue around, feeling the way it sat in his mouth like it didn’t belong. “It started gushing blood when I tried to talk when you woke me up. Was it…was I still bleeding when you found me?” It was funny trying to set up a timeline in his head when his memory only went back about thirty minutes ago.

“It’s hard to tell. With me pouring the Light into you, there’s a chance it just started circulating your blood again as it began to wake up the rest of your body so any open wounds would start…gushing again. That’s really gross. Guardian, I am so sorry-“

“I told you that you could stop apologizing.”

“I know. It’s just clear you…you didn’t die a nice death. And no one deserves that, ever.”

The silence continued on, the wind whistling through the slots and cracks in the wood, chilling the shack. The Awoken pulled on his dirty and blood stained clothes again, not straying far from the corner of the shack he’d managed to heat up with his body.

His Ghost hovered a little closer, nervously. “But…I don’t want you to think things are hopeless. I know this was a horribly rough start but I have so much to teach you and show you. Guardian, you are imbued with special gifts and things you can’t even comprehend right now, very different from how you used to be. I know you’re going to do so much with it.”

“Do you know who I was?”

“No. No Ghosts know their Guardians before they are risen.”

The Awoken pushed his long hair back from his face, a sort of muscle memory kicking in as he began to tie it around itself behind his head. He stopped his fingers as he felt himself doing it, slowly pulling his hands back to stare at them again. The dry, cracking lines of his palms still clung to the faded flecks of blood. “…What kind of person dies like I did?”

“…Sorry?”

“I didn’t die from any one of these other scars, newer or older. I…I survived a lot of fighting by the looks of it. Meaning I died from someone holding my head, pushing a blade into my mouth, and cutting down. It’s personal. Really personal. That’s not just ‘killing you is my job’ or ‘killing you is a side effect’. It’s deliberate and slow and cruel. Especially if…if that’s what killed me. Me choking on my own…” He grimaced. It was getting too horrible to describe.

His Ghost had gone quiet, spinning in the air, slowly moving down until it was closer to it’s Guardian, hovering by the side of his head. It’s shell moved in a sigh. “So, what are you asking me, really?”

“Am I a bad person?”

The Ghost turned it’s eye to look at the Awoken, as though the answer might be in his furrowed brow or the dusty lines under his glowing eyes. Finally, it continued speaking, carefully, tired.

“I know what the correct answer is…I know the answer is I tell you about how happy I was when I found you. How it felt like I had found the missing piece of me I didn’t know I was missing. How all I wanted in that moment of me healing you was to take away every ounce of pain I could see on your body. But that isn’t what you’d be happy with for an answer. The truth is…there are some people who are bad and have Ghosts like me and are called Guardians like you. There were these wandering Warlords who tore the land to pieces in a bid for power and control. Stories of legends who turn dark. Those that turn against the Traveler entirely. Even then, there’s just some Guardians who are just kind of jerks. I don’t know which one you’ll be Guardian; the one I saw in my mind when I was closing your wounds or one of the tragic ones who keep leaving footprints on history. Or... neither.”

The quiet stretched on between them. The Ghost almost thought his Guardian had dozed off but his voice came back eventually in their mental link.

“I don’t think I’m ready to talk yet. Out loud.”

“That’s ok. I can talk for you. Others can hear me out loud.”

“It could make things hard.”

“Well. Then we’ll have to teach you how to talk to others without actually talking for the times it is hard. I can think of a few ways already. We can work on them tomorrow on our walk back to civilization. There’s this place called the Tower, I think you’ll have a good time up there...”

“…You’re stuck with me you know.”

The Ghost gave a small laugh. “I am, yes. But you are stuck with me too, I hope. And that’s why I’m going to try and make something good out of this, at least a little good. You should try to rest. Typically you don’t need as much as most people but with your injuries, it might be good to take it easy for now.”

“Does it bother you not knowing who I am?”

“…No. It truly doesn’t. But it doesn’t mean I don’t feel a little foolish for that, especially after hearing you talk about it.”

The Awoken nodded, closing his eyes, content with the honesty. He feigned sleep for most of the night, his mind racing as he made sure to keep a steady unsuspicious breathing. He couldn’t stop thinking about who he was or rather all that he wasn’t. He didn’t have a single memory outside of waking up in that dirt. That was the only thing to cling to as to who he was. The consequences of…something. He wasn’t a simple man, a farmer, a merchant, a dad, anything with a title easy to digest. He was something else. He was something that had seen and survived a lot of battle. The blood on him now was probably nothing new to who he was. His stomach twisted into knots and he pushed down the urge to cry. He felt like a child alive in the body of a warmonger and was overcome with the urge to ask his Ghost to make things fair, go back in time and give him a new death, one where he stayed down.

But he didn’t. And he knew he couldn’t. This...Traveler had picked him up and it didn’t seem like the type to put him back down again.

All night he sat there, ruminating and rolling around in his head where he fell in the grand scheme of Light and Dark he was now thrust between. His Ghost heard it all. It rested on his Guardian’s shoulder, letting him pretend to sleep for as long as he needed, thinking just as hard as he was.


	2. The Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disenfranchised with the Vanguard and his fellow Guardians, Soxkt roams the Reef alone, aimless, until he is handed down a mission from the Reef Queen. On his mission to find a Fallen captain, he bumps into...someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shoutout to my friend James for his creation of Draknus and his part in writing this chapter. I love one purple haired, chaotic bisexual.

Draknus aimed his sniper, focusing on the dregs in the canyon below. His invisibility left only a small sheen that would only be seen if looking for it. His ears perked as he detected a small movement to his left. Checking radar, though, he saw nothing.

“Strange. Last I checked, only Warlock cloaks could deny motion radar...” He thought through the mental link to his Ghost, tapping his jaw.

“Petra did say that the Wolves are collecting stolen tech. Perhaps they got a hold of some City gadgets?” The Ghost replied curiously.

He didn’t want to sit around long enough to find out if that was true. Leaving his sniper on the ground, Draknus pulled out his Fatebringer and slowly lifted it towards where he heard the movement.

And there it was. Soxkt smirked to himself as he continued to crouch low, to the left of the slight glimmer his eye caught earlier when he first snuck down the coordinates he was given. His Ghost had already confirmed clear monitors but he figured nothing beat a being’s pure senses above fancy tech. His knees had just been starting to bitch at him too. The sound of movement, the slightest sound of an unholstered gun was enough proof to give him a small instance of smugness.

“Well. Look at that.”

“For the record, I never said you were wrong exactly.” The Ghost grumbled good naturedly. “What's the next step then? Did you think that far ahead?”

“You know, for someone sent to resurrect me at the Traveler’s orders, you sure do have no faith in me.” He was smiling though, even as he slowly began to pull out his own handcanon. Carefully, Soxkt began to inch closer to where he heard the noise, eyes squinting for a bit of shimmer. Almost...

Draknus squinted through the underbrush. If only he could see past this bush that he was behind. He pushed his gun forward, lifting a fern up with the barrel.

He didn't quite make out anything. But suddenly his Ghost’s voice kicked up. “To your right!”

He turned around on the spot, kicking up dirt in an attempt to blind the attacker as he fired his gun to his 4 and 6.

Soxkt tried to react as fast as he could but the flurry of dirt was a surprise. He rolled as the gunshots blared and kicked his leg out to try and make contact and trip whatever had just narrowly missed his head. He blind fired into the spot three shots before the adrenaline in his head was burst by a cacophony of yelling.

The shouts of the Guardian’s Ghosts fell over each other in their desperation.

“STOP STOP! STOP SHOOTING! We’re Guardians, we- oh we are so sorry, first of all! Soxkt, drop the cloak!”

"Draknus, Draknus! Drop the cloak, it’s a Guardian!!"

Soxkt’s bewildered expression beneath his helmet turned to total panic as the second, tinny voice of a Ghost rose up near where he shot. Fumbling over himself, he quickly stood on still slightly shaking knees, taking a few tries before he finally got his cloak to drop, hands shaking from adrenaline.

Draknus dropped the cloak instantly, still holding the gun out but holding fire. As the Guardian came into view, he made a soft sound of surprise.

"What is a Warlock doing here?" He said, his tone curious, not stern. Pointedly, he didn’t lower his gun.

Oh. This was also a surprise, to say the least for Soxkt. A Guardian had a gun pointed at his chest and a Ghost above his shoulder and he was clearly waiting for an answer that wouldn’t be coming from his mouth. It had been weeks, maybe months, since he’d seen one. He stood there, mouth open, rather openly dumbfounded and was grateful when his Ghost spoke up, albeit with a hint of frustration. “We’re on orders from Her Majesty Mara Sov to track...someone. We figured we would be alone in this task. Pardon my Guardian’s shooting at you both.”

Draknus thought for a moment then lowered his gun slowly. "I'm not under direct orders from the Reef Queen but I'm helping out her right hand. The name Petra ring a bell?"

The Ghost bobbed as though nodding. “We know of her, yes. Not particularly well but enough so we know you aren’t just throwing out random names for recognition. Speaking of which, I think introductions are in order.” The Ghost whirled to the other side of Soxkt’s head, shell spinning, voice snapping Soxkt out of his awkward stupor. “This is Soxkt, please do not be offended at his silence. I am his Ghost, Ventriloquist, and I am his voice when needed.” It felt weird to hear his Ghost recite such a cheerful practiced introduction they rarely got to use.

Draknus stepped forward. "I am Draknus, and this is my Ghost."

The Ghost pushes forward and spins his shell as well. "Hello, and sorry for the sudden, well.... bullet fire."

“Oh, yes, we are all to blame for that. Though sometimes I feel like we Ghosts should be used to this.” Ventriloquist chuckled, clearly happy to speak to someone familiar. “Well. Glad he’s getting on so sociably.” Soxkt though as he warily eyed the Hunter. Draknus. He knew him. At least a little. He’d heard his name in the conversations of other Guardians. He was...someone, wasn’t he?

Draknus put his gun away as a sudden realization hit him. "Shit!" He said as he spun around and looked down into the ravine with wide eyes only to then immediately jump back as 5 wire rifle shots shot a hair’s width from his head. "That gunfire revealed our position!"

Quickly, the socially awkward air dissipated and Soxkt began to pull the sniper rifle from his back, lowering himself onto his belly as he got closer to the edge of the ravine, auto piloting taking over as he set his gun up with precise movements, a quick decisive plan of action spelling out in his head until he froze. Wait...he wasn’t alone now. This Hunter...he was a factor that could cause chaos if he wasn’t careful. He began to sign quickly and then stopped. Fuck. 

“Does he know sign?” Soxkt thought to Ventriloquist. 

“How should I know?” His Ghost deadpanned before moving it’s mechanical eye to look up at Draknus. “We can try to start picking off dregs from up here if you can draw some fire.”

Draknus stood there for a moment taking in the sign language with a blank face, but quickly responded to Ventriloquist.

"I am not usually someone who likes to just run in." He then smiles a winner’s grin. "But seeing as we have no Titan on hand, I guess I'll have to do." He picked up his sniper rifle and let his ghost transmat it out, replacing it with a shotgun covered in Hive exoskeleton plating. He then walked to the edge, turned around to look back at Soxkt and said, "Trusting you with my back. Don't go shooting it you hear?"

Soxkt stared, reflecting Draknus’s beaked helmet back at him. He gave a small thumbs up after an uncomfortable beat.

Draknus sighed in disappointment, shoulders slouching. “You were supposed to ask if I’d been shot in the back before and then I was gonna- you know what never mind.” Draknus shook off his let down attitude and put a spark back in his voice. “Work first, party later.”

And with that, he jumped backwards, disappearing into the ravine as several wire rifles went off upon him entering line of sight, plummeting rapidly towards the ground.

”Did...did he just-?!“ Ventriloquist stammered, having witnessed the backwards swan dive but Soxkt had missed it entirely, laser focused through his scope. He watched the Fallen’s heads swivel and his finger began to twitch on the trigger. One. Two. Three. He sunk each bullet in quick succession, feeling his heartbeat against his chest into the floor beneath him. Two more. The fourth bullet wasn’t an instant kill but the fifth finished the job. One more. He swung his scope and- WAS THE HUNTER FREE FALLING?! Soxkt’s head shot up and he scrambled to the edge, gawking, briefly forgetting his job as he watched the Hunter plummet down further and further as more Fallen crawled from their hiding spaces to follow the falling Guardian.

“I told him to draw fire, not kill himself!” Soxkt thought in exasperation.

“I...I think he wanted to do this.” Ventriloquist said in a daze. 

Right before Draknus landed, he broke his fall with a perfectly timed flip in the air, followed by a knife thrown into a dreg’s head. He kicked through the air and landed on a vandal, firing the hive shotgun without hesitation into his face, leaving behind goo where the head was. The momentum doesn’t stop for even a moment. The Hunter is hardly more than a blur of his cloak as he dismantles every Fallen that emerges with swift flourish.

”....You are ogling.” Ventriloquist piped up, staring at Soxkt’s lax hand on the trigger.

“That’s Crota’s End.” Soxkt whispered in shock. He could see his Ghost’s shell widen, in response to the answer or his speaking voice he didn’t now. Soxkt remembered now. This Guardian...was a hero. Not just any hero. The hero! Or, at least, one of the few who got to bore this title. He was the name that floated around the Tower, the Last City. The arrogant, handsome, reckless Hunter who saved countless lives and took out a Hive god on the moon.

Before Soxkt could pick his jaw off the floor, Draknus' Ghost suddenly pinged the comms, awaiting a response.

Ventriloquist whirred softly, opening the comms. “Draknus? That was some serious shooting you did there! That jump did give us...a bit of a fright though. Is everything alright?” He tried to sound casual and easy going but ended up sounding more like a mother on the verge of a breakdown watching her child ride a bike for the first time.

"Everything is great!" Draknus called back enthusiastically, the combat not stopping for a moment as they watched him from on high. "Honestly I do this all the time, but I did have a reason for going quiet on this mission. Oh well!" He didn’t even look as he blew apart the chest of a dreg. "Can you see if you can spot a Captain with some weird contraptions on his back? Should look like a backpack with some red tubes going to his ether mask."

Soxkt quickly stood up, walking the edge of the ravine with a quick pace while Ventriloquist talked. “Looking now. To be clear...are we shooting at the backpack looking thing or not damaging it?”

"Don't shoot!" This time the Ghost spoke up for Draknus.

"Hey, don't interrupt me!" Draknus responded as he finished loading a shell into his shotgun. "If you see a Captain with that device we must not damage the device or harm him. He is our target, and he must be taken alive!"

Ventriloquist began to scan the area, chatting to Soxkt as he tracked the movement below them. “I think he’s after our mark too. That’s the same description we got here. Should make it easy with two of us gunning for him. He’s probably keeping himself to the shadows looking for an opening on our new friend. It might be good to get a broader position and- Soxkt?” 

Soxkt’s expression was grim and he had stopped walking. He cast a doubtful look down into the ravine. Something gnawed at him. The hero...Crota’s End. Here. On his mission to the crown. He had spent so much time putting a proper distance between himself and the Vanguard, to give himself to the trust of the Sovs and now... His grip tightened on his rifle. “Who the hell does he think he is, busting in here and taking charge of my mission? All Guardians really are desperate for the spotlight, huh?” He thought darkly.

Ventriloquist beeped in surprise. ”Soxkt, I don’t think this is anytime to really argue or be petty. We are on the same side. And you know Mara probably doesn’t care how it gets done, right? Let’s just get this over with and then we can go back into the Reef and...”

It was hard to tell if Soxkt was listening as he held out his sniper, waiting for it to become an SMG in his hand, which Ventriloquist reluctantly transmat over as he trailed off in defeat. “I didn’t ask for him to be here. He can find someone else’s glory to pilfer.” When the gun did materialize, he took a step back, pausing. “Find him first. No excuses.” He thought sharply as he began to sprint.

“SOXKT, WAIT, HE’S-!” But Soxkt was already falling, gone and off the lip of the ravine’s edge.

Draknus finished off yet another Fallen, when he heard his Ghost yell out, "WHY WOULD YOU JUMP!?"

Turning around he watches as Soxkt falls down. "Well. Fuck. There goes keeping an eye out for Skolas. Going to have to rush before the stragglers launch the ships. C’mon!"

His window was short but he knew he could do it. Some of the shots of the Fallen spread towards him but they continued to mostly be centered on the more deadly force of chaos in the form of Draknus. Just like he hoped. He heard his Ghost working overtime until- a shimmer in the shadows. Just like earlier. “Looks like the Captain wasn’t expecting two Guardians, was he?” Soxkt thought. He quickly loaded a clip into his gun, the ground rapidly coming closer and closer.

”The captain, at your 9, Soxkt!” 

Soxkt inhaled sharply, turning in the air and aimed. “Thanks for the idea, Crota’s End.” Soxkt lit up the ground, spraying up the dust and debris, which collected and settled around the shimmer of invisibility that was now crying out in a husky rage, bursting from the shadows as his cover was blown.

Immediately upon hearing the snarl, Draknus turned and started running towards where Soxkt shot. Putting away his gun he pulls out a new toy he picked up from one of the Awoken. A throwable arc trap. Through the dust, the invisible Captain roared out, firing off several shots of the shrapnel launcher in his hands. Immediately, the arc trap was thrown with perfect precision, landing at the Captain’s feet. It ensnared him immediately, disabling his invisibility entirely.

"Fuck!" Draknus cursed. The dust settling quickly, revealing the Captain to have none of the described strange technology on him. "It's not him. Another doppelganger to throw me off the trail."

Walking up to the Captain, Draknus yanked the gun out of its stiff hands, ignoring as it hissed in frustration.

Soxkt quickly activated his glide as the ground became too close for comfort, his rapid fall turning into a gentle descent as his feet gently touched the ground on landing. Soxkt’s hands started to sign but he quickly stopped, looking at the captured Captain. “It’s not him, is it?” His Ghost piped up, floating slightly closer.

Draknus didn’t respond. Annoyed, he reached up to the Captain's mask and ripped off the ether mask it wore. Struggling to move within the arc trap bindings, the Captain sneered, it's widening jaw showing its jagged teeth.

"Where is he?" Draknus asked forcefully. "Where is your oh-so-precious Kell of Kells? Afraid to go up against a Guardian or two?"

The Captain spoke Errata at first, but quickly saw that the Hunter didn't understand him.

He repeated himself in broken English, "Kell of Kells not scared of Great Machine's walking dead. Kell of Kells knows time and place more important."

"Well, we might as well hand you over to the Awoken then. I'm sure a certain member of House Judgement would live to have you in his prison."

The Captain's eyes widened for a moment. "That traitor. Still alive?"

"Yep, and you are going to be his latest attraction."

Turning around, Draknus suddenly remembered Soxkt with a look of disinterest. "You have anything you need from him? I'm going to give Petra a call to pick him up."

Soxkt shook his head, grimacing, signing as his Ghost translated. “No, this isn’t our target either. Obviously...” Soxkt continued signing, his hands firm. His Ghost continued to translate but more carefully, like he was picking the right words. “Soxkt wants to know...ah, I guess we both want to know what exactly your...plan is once you find Skolas. That is who you are after, yes?”

"Yes. Petra wants me to find him and capture him.” Draknus propped the Fallen’s gun onto his shoulder. “But I'm planning on just watching him and learning his plans. Him and the House of Wolves have been stealing a variety of technology from across the system, and I don't believe for a second that it's random."

He continued, walking a circle around the Captain and Warlock alike. "If he finds something too dangerous, then I'll shut him down and capture him, sure. But until then I'll just track him and sabotage the operations as they happen."

Soxkt’s eyes widen along with Ventriloquist’s shell widening to mimic the response. “That’s...that’s far too risky! This Skolas has harmed Her Majesty and the Awoken as a people severely already, not to mention everyone else who gets in his path. Are you really okay just...tailing him until you decide he goes too far?” Soxkt signs something and the same hesitation is back in his Ghost’s voice as he translates for him. “Soxkt...Soxkt is asking what gives you that authority.”

"What gives me authority?" Draknus almost looked like he was holding back a laugh. "Nothing. Nothing gives me authority. I just thought that this would be more interesting and would reveal more details that the Awoken would otherwise hide from us. Why should I bother hiding secrets of the Awoken that they haven't even deemed worth sharing with me? Heck, I used to be one of them if my own complexion is anything to go by. Now, mind you, I don't need to know anything about my own history, but I am genuinely curious and interested in the Awoken history, secrets, and why they are so xenophobic of humans and Guardians."

He smirked, stretching an arm out wide. "And Skolas! Skolas knows something. Whatever he's doing will lead me to something that I can learn. And I legitimately can't wait to find out what."

Finishing off, Draknus turned his back to Soxkt, pulling an Awoken communicator out of a utility pack on his belt. "Petra, this is 002. I have a lead ready for pickup." It was clear he deemed the conversation over, already reading out coordinates into the mouthpiece.

“So you’re willing to let this conflict harm people so you can pursue your own personal path of knowledge? You’re representative of Guardians, your main prerogative is stopping these things from hurting anymore innocents and putting others before your own!” Ventriloquist wasn't even translating Soxkt’s hands anymore; the Ghost was venting his own frustration, his voice trying to rise above the ding of the Hunter talking. He didn’t even realize Soxkt had stopped signing and was rapidly closing the distance between himself and Draknus. Not until he had gripped the hero’s shoulder, spinning him around and slamming him against the nearest wall of the ravine. 

“We...are going to have a problem.” He spoke slowly, deeply, each word a measured and careful sound in his uncertain mouth.

Draknus was still wearing his helmet but if he wasn't, Soxkt would have seen a momentary surprised expression followed by a massive smile. "So you can talk." He murmured, delighted.

Suddenly, Draknus threw the communicator in the air and called upon his Light to release a blast of Arc energy that thrust forward. There was nothing held back in the strike. This was, without a doubt, killing intent.

Soxkt jumped back, agile and quick on his feet, narrowly dodging the blast of energy that burned the air as it flew past. He wasn’t expecting...that. He was getting sick of surprises today and mostly sick of this fucking Hunter. He quickly blinked back in a short burst of void energy, a ticking purple grenade left where he once was, which exploded into a swirling vortex between the two Guardians. Soxkt braced himself on the other side, hand pressed to his holster, waiting, anger seizing up inside him. It was a warning. A warning he knew wouldn’t be taken.

As the vortex grenade swirled, Draknus caught the communicator he had thrown up previously. Putting it away, he reactivated his camouflage and began sprinting around the vortex, using the sound of the pulsing energy to cover his footsteps. Coming to a slow walk when the vortex collapsed. “Why are you attacking him!?” His Ghost asked. “You're both Guardians, and honestly while I understand you don't mean to cause harm to anyone, he isn't wrong. The risk of letting Skolas stay free is very likely to cause damage.”

Still moving forward, coming around on Soxkt's left, Draknus thinks back. “He's not wrong, but I need to check on his skill. I'm confident I could stop anything before any innocents get hurt. But you heard him earlier. The Queen asked him to do this. I just want to make sure he's skilled enough to not be in the way. And who knows, maybe he can think of a good name for you!”

The ghost reacts to only the last sentence. “Wha- you'd let SOMEONE ELSE name me for you!? That's so rude!”

Draknus chuckled internally. “The only name I'd ever want to call you ever since that Exo Woman said it is Little Light.”

"I'D RATHER JUST BE CALLED GHOST!" The ghost was so frustrated by this that he yelled out loud and on the open comms instead of keeping it with Draknus.

The shrill angry voice of the Ghost pulled Soxkt from his stupor. While it most likely appeared he was simply waiting for footsteps as he stood stock still in his spot, he was actually more frozen by his own rage and his forced confrontation with it. “This is why I don’t work with fucking Guardians.” He thought bitterly. He aimed at where he heard the voice, shooting at the ground twice in front of it, a warning again. 

Ventriloquist called out. "Draknus's Ghost! C-Can you talk some reason into him? This can’t possibly end anywhere good and Soxkt does not want blood on his hand!" Soxkt dug his teeth into his lip. That final statement wasn't entirely true but no one needed to know that.

The Ghost appeared hovering seemingly in midair, saying "There isn't really speaking sense into him at this point! You should have heard what he just told me! He said you should name me! ME!"

Soxkt, still pointing his gun but not knowing how to really handle the sudden conversation shift, glanced at Ventriloquist. "...Soxkt wants to know if you're constantly reprimanding your Guardian on the consequences for his reckless actions?"

The Ghost hovers unsteadily, his shell drooping around him. "No, not usually, but he does consistently get into trouble with others for his lack of explanations...Maybe I should start being more stern... Yes, maybe that's it...."

Soxkt glanced at his Ghost again before slowly holstering his gun. Crota’s End hadn’t made a move yet. Maybe he was waiting for things to die down to call a peace. With a shaky breath, he began signing quickly. His Ghost translated. "That's the sign for Karma. I'm assuming that connotation is obvious." Soxkt signed again, longer this time. "And that's for Thesaurus. He says it's for giving words where your Hunter gives none."

The Ghost strangely only seemed to droop more, turning it’s eye away in guilt. “Oh... how nice... Well, I'm so sorry about this then." The Ghost vanished into the air at the same moment a sound could be heard. The sound of flames, powerful turbines, and... 

...the howl of wolves?

From approximately thirty feet behind Soxkt stood Draknus, a rocket launcher on his shoulder. Not just any rocket launcher. A Gjallarhorn, smoking still from the missile that was now actively flying towards Soxkt at breakneck speed.

“Go!” 

Soxkt sprinted, already knowing there was no way he was outrunning this but he seemed to be on autopilot, enacting a plan his body knew before his brain. He leaped into the air, activating his jump, boosting him slowly up like a feather on the wind. He turned in the air, facing the rocket coming so close, close enough he could see where it split into their tracking clusters, homing onto him. Ventriloquist was shouting something but he quickly absorbed the Ghost back into his body as he inhaled deeply. 

He could feel it. The harnessing of the Light in his chest, warping into something that brushed hands with the very matter of Darkness. As his lungs filled to bursting, he threw his arm back before extending it out, a nova bomb exploding from his palm. A sound like shattering glass as the Nova bomb split, shattering to meet the clusters, exploding them in mid air. The force of the impact knocked his floating jump off kilter and he crashed hard into the ravine's floor, able to shield himself from most of the shrapnel flying towards him but not until a large chunk slammed into his helmet's smooth surface, ripping out a chunk of the material as it rocketed by, revealing one of Soxkt's gleaming golden eyes.

Walking forward incredibly casually, still holding the wolf decorated launcher over his shoulder, Draknus approached the collapsed Guardian who was panting heavily on the floor. His Ghost flew over to him as he said "Excellent job, Little Light. You make excellent bait when you are allowed to talk."

"Don't call me Little Light! And honestly, while I knew you wanted me to be bait, they did get me thinking about something..."

"Really? Hmm. Well you can tell me about it in a bit. In the meantime I have a Warlock who I'm enjoying talking to."

Looking back at Soxkt, the eyes of Draknus' helmet begin to start glowing. "You have any idea what this helmet is, Socks? Or Socket? Man, some Awoken names are hard."

Soxkt answered with a bit of universal sign language as he slowly sat himself up on the floor, slapping his bicep and lifting his middle finger up at Draknus, wincing at his smack on his sore muscles.

"HA! Now that's some sign language I do understand."

With that, his super activated. A blade of Arc energy extending from his knife which he had quickly unsheathed from the holster on his leg. Soxkt stared, the single eye able to be seen wide. The crackling energy was well known in the Crucible for its ability to cut Guardians with nearly no effort, as well as the incredibly fast movement the energy granted the Hunters who employed it.

"The helmet is called Celestial Nighthawk, Warlock." He lifted the blade, holding the tip upwards. His voice had dropped to barely above a taunting whisper and he dropped to one knee to place himself hovering over where Soxkt was splayed out on the ground. "You see...the eyes light up when the wearer's super is charged and ready."

With that, he arched his arm and swung the blade down-

-and the knife embedded itself into the rock next to Soxkt's head, the energy crackling into nothing and fading away.

Draknus still clung tight to the hilt of the blade, the super deactivated. He kept his helmet right up against Soxkt’s face as the lights in the eyes of his helmet faded to nothing, still positioned over the Warlock.

"And the best part? The helmet only works with a Golden Gun."

The helmet transmatted away, giving Soxkt his first look at the insufferable, horrible, reckless, handsome smirk of Crota’s End, inches away from his own face with eyes that were just as gold as his own, skin as blue as his own too but with a shock of purple hair. 

Draknus tilted his head playfully. "Huh, what do you know... your eyes glow more than mine." Draknus mused, his eyes crinkling as his smirk stretched, drinking in the stunned expression below him.

"...Heh. Heheheh." The short chuckle comes from deep in Soxkt's chest, a laugh both confused and exhausted. "Strange, strange man..." He murmured quietly, still not trusting this situation enough to make any sudden movements or to do what he wanted to do which was hit this fucker in the head with the rock a few inches from his hand. His fingers twitched. And yet...this must be how heroes are. Charming as all get out even in the act of death. How revolting.

Soxkt’s heart hammered in his chest with nerves as he leaned forward a little, bumping the forehead of his helmet with Draknus's forehead. "Better...kill me...fast." His quiet voice dripped with threat. From the splintering crack in his helmet, it was almost possible to see the grin he wore just barely.

Draknus’s eyes lit up, going wide, eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. "Gotcha." Draknus suddenly took his Gjallarhorn and pointed it right down from his shoulder and pulled the trigger. The sound of fire, the air of the tube being forced out, and the howl of wolves and then an explosion that demolished them both of them.

...

Draknus' Ghost flew over and quickly revived the downed Guardian, his flesh forming from the Light that enveloped him. Looking down at the remains of the other Guardian as he reawoke, he tilted his head back to look up at Ventriloquist who was spinning high above the blast zone.

"You going to revive him?" Draknus called up.

"...Maybe he should stay dead for a bit. He was enjoying that a little too much there at the end." Ventriloquist said dryly but he hovered over the remains, reforming Soxkt who came back on his feet, chest heaving with heavy panting. 

Draknus rested his helmet on his hip, raising a single eyebrow, unimpressed. "Deep breathing from just one death?"

Soxkt waited a moment, hands on his knees as he panted, before straightening up and slowly pulling off his own reformed helmet, his wary gaze locked onto Draknus. He turned to look up to his Ghost, signing. "He says it's not every day another Guardian murder-suicides him and he hopes you give him a pass on being surprised. That last part was sarcastic." Soxkt looked at Draknus a little longer and signed something his Ghost does not translate before crossing his arms, tapping his foot slightly as though impatient to see what stunt was getting pulled next.

"Oh don't be like that! I'll admit, that move with the Nova Bomb was pretty impressive." Draknus ran a hand back through his coiffed hair. "But I will say you need to work harder on, well, working harder. What I mean is that you gave up way too early."

Soxkt's face turned incredulous before his eyes narrowed, clearly frustrated. His Ghost started to talk but was cut off by Soxkt's voice suddenly. "Don't...kid yourself. You’re not... worth my time..." He smiled as mean as he the words he spat. "Not worth...my effort.”

Draknus’s eyes widened. "Oh man. Now that's what I was looking for. Hmm..." He pretended to think for a moment before declaring "Ok, you pass! How about we both go after Skolas? Together?"

Well. Shit. Soxkt's mind was in such a flurry at the sudden suggestion, his Ghost didn’t even try to parse what he wanted to say and instead just gave a sputtering sound of confusion. Crota’s End just...asked to work with him? He looked so earnest too, all toothy smile and bright eyes, and stupid hair and... Soxkt took a deep breath, in and out, nice and slow before chuckling again, this time blossoming into a full on laugh, the sound bouncing around the ravine walls. Eventually he brought himself back down, rubbing the back of his head. “You’re bad for my health...and my heart.” 

Ventriloquist chimed in briefly. "There's a lot more he wanted to say but...I think that about sums it up...Draknus. We will help you. For now."

Draknus shook his head ruefully. "I love how you say I could be bad for your health when your Ghost keeps you healthy, but oh well!" He put out his hand, "To a fruitful adventure?"

Soxkt stared at the hand. “...Is he dense?” He thought.

Ventriloquist nodded solemnly. “Yes. Very. Might as well see what kind of hell he continues to kick up though, right? Besides, those Reef caverns and caves aren’t going to be going anywhere.”

“...Yeah.”

He firmly shook Draknus's hand, squeezing maybe a little harder than he should in polite circumstances. "To...not shooting you...in the back." Soxkt shut his mouth with a smile, mentally telling himself that this was the last the Hunter would hear from his voice.

"Ha! Yes, that would be great. Especially not with an Ice Breaker if you have one…” He paused. “You don't, right? Have an Ice Breaker, I mean?"

Before Soxkt could fathom an answer, Draknus's Ghost suddenly came on comms, "Hey you two, we have a problem over here."

Draknus let go of Soxkt's hand and quickly rushed over to his Ghost, spotting the problem instantly. On the ground was the Fallen Captain that had been captured. Dead. Multiple chunks of its body blown to pieces.

"...Shit. Petra is going to be livid."

Soxkt signed. Ventriloquist translated. “He says nice going, jackass.”

The Ghost flew around the body. "It appears he took the full blast of the wolf pack rounds that split off when you killed yourself."

"Yeah, I figured. Well! That sucks." Draknus turned around and started briskly walking away, down the ravine, already shrugging off the accident and moving onwards to the next new idea his brain was chasing towards. "Hey Soxkt, wanna name my ghost?" He yelled behind his shoulder as he began to jog away.

Soxkt shook his head slightly to himself, casting an almost apologetic look at his Ghost before smiling, really smiling, jogging after Draknus, signing behind his back. “He says you should name your ghost Masochist for continuing to put up with you!” Ventriloquist called out. “And also that you should learn sign language!”

"I would rather go by Little Light than something as embarrassing as that!" Draknus' Ghost called back in frustration.

"Then I guess that's what I'll go with then!" Draknus cried out with a victorious punch to the air.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Three voices rung out, echoing through the bodies of destroyed Fallen, neither Guardian even slightly aware of what was to befall them in the years to come. Soxkt stared at the back of Draknus's neck and wondered how long he’d have to be looking at Crota’s End trailing in front of him like this. He hoped it wasn’t for too long.

He was very, very wrong.


End file.
